Champion batsman Brian Lara holds the key to West Indies’ success at next month’s cricket World Cup in South Africa, coach Roger Harper said yesterday at the team’s training camp in Antigua.
“Brian Lara is a world class player that can really make that great a difference for us,” Harper told the Associated Press as the camp moved into its second week.
Harper - who played in three World Cups in 1983, ‘92 and ‘96 as an off-spinning all-rounder - said Lara’s participation in the team’s tours in India and Bangladesh last year brought both success and optimism to the team.
“If we perform with the same consistently high standard as we did in Asia and then Brian kicks in at the top of his game, we are really going to be a tremendous force to be reckoned with,” Harper said.
Lara, 33, returned to competitive cricket this month after recovering from a mystery illness that forced him out of action during September’s Champions Trophy.
The former captain holds the world record Test and first-class individual scores.
Harper dismissed questions that Lara’s return could affect the chemistry of the young team.
“With Brian’s tremendous experience, his track record in all forms of the game...His presence will only help to boost and inspire the team to better things,” the coach said.
Harper, whose three-year contract as coach expires at the end of the competition, also stressed the importance of the every match. “Every game for us is going to be like a final,” he said. “On any given day we are capable of beating any team, and we are going to go out there and play with that belief.”
West Indies faces hosts South Africa in the tournament opener in Cape Town on Feb. 9 with matches against New Zealand, Bangladesh, Canada, Sri Lanka and Kenya to follow in their preliminary Group B.